Deal
by Unknown lazy ass
Summary: “I’ll go on a date with Duke only if you take me out for dinner.” That was the deal, simple enough, except it wasn't simple at all. Olivia x Viola
1. Act I

**Deal.**

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Act 1: Two Dates

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Soccer, that's why she came to this school, that's why she tormented herself with early morning showers, and that's how she met Olivia Lennox. Strangely enough, soccer was the last thing on her mind by the time everything was over. And this was just the beginning.

As usual Viola was outside on the field getting warmed up for practice, long before due. Unlike when she was on the girl's team, she needed the extra ball time. Maybe her stupid sexist coach was right, maybe girls aren't good enough to play with the boys. After all the boys are so much bigger, stronger, and the only advantage she had was speed. Which in soccer was a definite skill but what good was speed if she wasn't even on the team. Once her foot connected with the rubber ball all her troubles and doubts subsided, on the field she wasn't a girl or even Viola Hastings, she was a soccer player. And soccer players don't waste their time contemplating on crappy coaches or not making first-string, they have only one goal, and it's to win.

The familiar swoosh of the ball hitting against the net brought a huge swell of pride, after twenty more she paused for a water break. Cooling down on the bleachers while chugging her water bottle Malcolm approached her, like the little creep he is, he grinned not daring to sit next to her, just knowing she would reject his company.

"I've seen you out every single day now, trying to make the first-string team?" His taunting tone only provoked her more, now grinding on the nozzle of her bottle she continued to ignore him. Knowing exactly which buttons to push he asked in fake concern, "Aw, isn't it a shame you won't be able to play even after all this hard work?"

Viola bit back a swear, she closed her bottle and got up, so abruptly it even caused Malcolm to take a few steps back in alarm. "I will make first-string, look for number eight at next week's game." Without another word she sped down the steps and back onto the green field. For ten minutes she could feel the weirdo's eyes drill into the back of her head like daggers until finally he left. A breath of relief escaped her, focusing she started to pocket the ball on the right-hand corner of the net.

"Sebastian!"

Like every other morning, she stopped to greet Olivia. Even in sweats the girl looked absolutely astonishing, it was no wonder every guy in the school wanted to get into her pants. Smiling she waved back, "Morning. You getting ready for cross-country?"

She makes a beeline towards the soccer player, plugging out her earphones she eagerly replies, "Yeah. Wish me luck, the team's not too great this year. Most of the seniors from last year are gone and none of the new ones want to join."

A sympathetic look crosses Sebastian's hazel eyes as she pats her lightly on the shoulders, "You'll do great. If I have time, I'll be sure to come and watch."

Olivia was beaming with giddy joy, "That would be awesome. I'll text you the days and time." Not wanting to end the conversation just yet she quickly added, "So what about you and soccer, how's that going?"

"Nowhere." That wasn't really true but it sure seemed that way, no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't seem to beat the first-string players, except on suicides. Noting the pity in the blonde's eyes she corrected herself, "I mean, it's a bit hard but nothing I can't handle."

This happened every single time, whenever Sebastian would be open about something he would always back-track and mask his true feelings, it sort of hurt. Nevertheless Olivia offered a supportive smile, "I'll be sure to catch the game, I hope I get to see you play."

A lopsided grin tugs at her lips, "Look for a number eight."

Before either of them could say anything else, a thick accented voice shouted, "HASTINGS! Stop chatting with your girlfriend and get over here." The way Coach spoke, girlfriend ended up sounding like 'gurl-friend' and his yelling was loud enough to be used as the school bell. Smiling sheepishly Sebastian muttered a good-bye, and shyly Olivia returned it before leaving to finish off her lap. "Right now!"

With a final look at her friend she bolted to her Coach who impatiently gestured for her to hurry up.

Today was morning practice so everyone looked half asleep or dead, most of them had bed head knowing they'll be showering soon afterwards, "You girls need to wake up! For the following week there will be morning practice every day as well as afternoon ones." Catching the groans and grumble of complains, Coach's voice rose a few notches "THIS IS NOT A TEA PARTY, AND FOR ANY GIRLS THAT MIGHT HAVE MISTAKEN THIS FOR IT, LEAVE!" Immediately everyone shut their mouths and straightened up, a few of the second-stringers took a seat on the benches, too lazy to stand. "Okay, now that we got that cleared up, let's play some ball!"

Once the whistle blew everyone got on their hands and toes to do push ups. After ten minutes everyone was sweating and tensing, a whistle signalled for a stop. "Okay, since all you girls obviously don't know how to do a damn push-up, you are all going to be doing fifteen laps. Twenty for first-stringers." Most of the muffled moans of dismay were from the second-stringers. With a point of the finger, he ordered like a drill sergeant "NOW!"

On their fifth lap Duke matched pace with his room-mate, "Hey." It didn't take him long to bring up Olivia, "So…has she mentioned anything about me?"

_Sure she has, plenty. How you're some pig-headed dummy who she has absolutely no interest in. _"Uhh…not really." Quickly she added as soon as a flicker of hope entered his eyes, "Nope, not at all."

"Oh."

The look on Duke's face almost made her feel like she had kicked a puppy, "Hey no worries man, I'll hook you up. Just hang in tight." He nodded before abandoning her for Toby and Andrew. She had to remind herself not to get too attached to Duke, even if he has a fine ass. Shrugging the image of Duke's butt from her head she tried to catch up to Duke.

Even as she finished her last lap she continued for another, promising to do just as much as the regular players. Coach watched her like a hawk, it made her gut drop.

After foot-work, shooting, and suicides Coach called it quits, "Okay hit the showers." Just as Viola was going to follow her friends Coach called out, "Except you Hastings, I need to have a chat with you." She shared a look with Toby who only shrugged back in concern.

Once the field was clear Viola asked, "Yes, Coach?"

"I'll make a deal with you Hastings. You do another try-out for me after school on Friday, if you meet my standards I'll put you on first-string." Viola's smile was so big it practically covered her whole face, resisting the temptation to bear hug her Coach, she settled for a firm nod and a 'thank-you.'

She was close, she was so close and it was all thanks to Duke.

Duke who loves Olivia. She was doomed.

First period was a killer, she could hardly keep her eyes open. The sub's voice was so drone-like she could've mistaken him for a robot. Where was Mrs. Leech anyways? Resting her chin on her palm she copied the notes down. None of it made sense and she couldn't really understand the lectures because it was so dull, for once she actually missed Screechy Leechy, at least she could pay attention to her. For the remainder of twenty minutes the man put in a video which explained the different human body parts in detail. Worst part was, the diagrams were in detail as well and in colour too. _Joy! _

Second period was her spare, or rather Sebastian's spare which she took full advantage of. Most of it was wasted in napping, doing homework or the usual extra practice time. The bell rang far too quick for her liking, but at least Olivia would be there in her third block. Over the short amount of time, they had grown fairly close, enough to consider each other as friends but not close enough to be hanging outside of school with. Not that either of them had the time.

She grabbed a clean lab coat and got down to work. As casually as possible, she asked "So…are you seeing anyone right now?" Judging by the baffled look on her lab partner's face, she could tell it wasn't nearly as casual as she had hoped it had sounded.

"No…why?" Could it be? Was Sebastian Hastings finally asking her out?

"Oh, cool. Um, I was wondering if you were free this Saturday." Oh. My. God. He really was asking her out!

As excited she was, she didn't want to look desperate or at least not as desperate as she felt, "I'm not too busy, why?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Just maybe you wanted to grab a bite to eat with-" here it comes she mentally prepared herself, Olivia's tongue ready to fire out a 'yes', "Duke."

"Yes, I would love to!" Suddenly the name registers inside her brain and soon she's frowning. "Wait. Hold on, did you just say Duke?"

"Uh…yeah, and I believe you've just said yes," normally the confused boyish look would've melted her heart but today, at the moment it only irritated her.

Faking disappointment, she starts, "Oh did you said this Saturday? I totally forgot! I have to visit my grandma, I'm sorry. Maybe next time?" She didn't mean a word of it.

Meeting her eyes, Viola tries again. "Okay, how about Sunday?"

Now a little more than annoyed she half-hearty replies, "Nope. Sorry can't, going shopping with Maria."

"Maybe Duke can come with?" She knew Duke would hate to be dragged around while the two girls browsed through the latest styles but at this point, anything was good.

"We're shopping for lingerie."

Stopping herself from cringing, she asked "How about on Monday?"

"Cross country, I don't get out until eight. We have a relay."

Viola crosses her arms as she persists, "Okay, how about next week."

Now weary and growing sick of their little game, Olivia mindlessly blurts out. "I'll go on a date with Duke only if you take me out for dinner." Her words shock both of them, neither of them are doing biology anymore instead their mouths hang wide open matching each other. She blew it. She lost Sebastian, he probably thought she was some creep now, like Malcolm, ew. Still she had just degraded herself by voluntarily bargaining herself for the low price of a dinner date. Maybe Malcolm and her weren't so different after all. What was wrong with her? Oh right. Sebastian, that's what was wrong with her.

"Okay."

"What?" It takes everything in her body to stop herself from jumping up and down in utter joy, even if it was more of a trade-of, she still technically was going on a date with Sebastian. And a date was a date, no matter how short or unethical it was. Trying to remain calm, she cocked an eyebrow almost as if she was confused by his answer. That by chance she just might have heard the boy wrong.

"Okay. One dinner for you to go on a date with Duke," the bell rang before Viola could go into further details, no linger looking at her she wrote down an address and Duke's number. "Duke will phone you later. Cya."

Soccer, that's why she was here, not for Duke and definitively not for friends, even if it was someone as amazing as Olivia. She chanted the reasons and goal to herself, more to convince herself than anyone else.

She owed Duke, glancing down at the crumpled piece of paper with Olivia's home address scribbled on it, she knew that her debt was paid. Still something bothered her, almost as if this all was too easy…now she remembers.

She owes Olivia dinner.

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**_Author's Rant:_** Okay, this is my second story for STM. This was totally made on whim by the way and it was really easy to type up so there's probably a lot of mistakes. On this note, I would love to find a beta, one who is okay with both sexual orientations. Some other fanfics I'm thinking of writing is on iCarly, O.C, and maybe Hannah Montana…maybe. Oh also planning on doing a sequel on '_Holding onto Impossible'_ called '_Nothing is Impossible.'_ Lots of stories that I'm hoping to make but high school's an arse, and homework is brutal. Cross your finger! Oh and please leave some feedback, an aspiring writer here xD


	2. Act II

Act 2**:** Uninvited Complication

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**remialcsiD:** Okay since this thing is so over done and boring, I decided to spell it backwards. Now on with the sad truth, I don't own this Movie or even the Twelfth Night written by Shakespeare that this movie was based-off of. Or the actors or the characters they act as, happy now?

* * *

"Who's your daddy?" Viola completely ignores Duke's wide-eyed confused look, instead she gently slaps him on his shoulder before breaking the good news, "You got a date with-"

"Olivia?" His face alone almost makes her troubles worth it.

Hiding a crooked smirk she shook her head, "No, even better!" She pauses for dramatic affect, "I got an Irish folksinger who travels the world on a Mexican pony!" It doesn't take long before she's bursts out laughing, "Just kidding, yeah Olivia man."

_Duke's punch: Bruise-worthy, Duke's disappointed face when she lied: Priceless._

After recovering from her giggle-fit, she realizes how tense Duke is. Softly she asks, "Hey man, what's up?" It couldn't be that he changed his mind…could it? "What's with the frown, shouldn't you be like dancing in your boxers or something?" Duke's once agonized face is morphed into a baffled one at her odd suggestion.

"It's just that," he glares hard down at the carpet. "I'm not good with talking to girls." Viola almost wants to coo her roommate before pulling him into a little-too friendly hug. Instead, she gets up from her bed.

"Okay, when was the last time you've dated?" She didn't mean to sound as if she was mocking him but judging by the bitter look in Duke's eyes, she obviously failed. So she elaborated, "I mean describe your most recent date."

His jaw relaxes as he slacks into his chair in utter defeat. "Umm…I took her to a restaurant and a movie, there was no second date." A red glow appeared on his cheeks as he whispered, "Look I really like Olivia, and I want this to work between her and me." For a split second, Viola could feel her heart skip a beat; Duke really was a nice guy, unlike a certain goalie from Cornwall. A certain goalie she never wanted to see ever again. Before she could even gather her thoughts, Duke snaps out of his softie mode, threatening, "You tell anyone about what I told you, I'll kick your ass."

"Gotcha." She falls back onto her bed, and stares at their dorm's ceiling, lost in thought. After a few minutes, she tells him, "You're picking her up this Saturday at her house." Handing over a slip of paper she continues, "That's her cell, phone her and make the arrangements." She rolls onto her feet and grabs her soccer ball before heading towards the door, "Oh yeah, and Duke? Just be yourself." She closes the door behind her and jogs out to the field.

Even though Coach Dinklage had been brutal with the afternoon practices Viola always needed to be on the green field whenever she had something on her mind, it helped her think better and hopefully smarter as well. She dropped the dirty, aged soccer ball to the ground; she started up with warm-ups and worked herself up with her usual routine.

"Sebastian?" It was now well past ten, everyone was either in their beds or finishing off their homework so Viola was a little more than just startled by the sudden call-out. "Is is you! Wow, you really love soccer don't you?"

She retrieved her ball and then got closer to the shaded stranger until she could make out Maria's familiar face. "Oh, hey." Swiping the dirt and sweat off her forehead with her towel she sheepishly smiled at her off-handed comment, "I just needed to clear my head. Soccer just helps."

Raising an eyebrow she playfully teased, "Oh what's this? Mr. Popular is having trouble in paradise?" Her smile dropped as she noted the confusion and honest frustration bottled up in the boy's eyes. "Hey, what's up? I mean, it's a bad habit to keep things locked up. I'm a pretty good listener; it comes with the whole being best-friend's with the most popular girl résumé."

Finally, Viola cracked a smile, "Umm…okay. There's this gu-rl. She really likes this other person, she's nice to me but she just doesn't seem to like me any more than as a friend."

Why did this suddenly feel like deja-vu for Maria? She had heard those exact same words from Olivia; ironically, her 'secret' crush was on the exact same, insecure boat. Sitting down on the neatly trimmed grass, she gestures for Sebastian to come sit next to her, once their both beside each other on the ground, Maria leans over and whispers, "I'll let you in a secret. There isn't a single girl in this school at the moment that doesn't like you."

Viola stiffens slightly before laughing at the odd predicament she had landed herself in. At least Sebastian would be happy once he got back; any boy would be if he had a list of girls just waiting to get into his pants. But if you were this guy's sister, then that's a whole other story. Sighing lightly she tried to come up with a reason for this 'girl' not to like her, "She's …uh, gay."

It's not too odd or even uncommon nowadays but Maria's eyes nearly bulge out of her eyes, "You mean it wasn't Olivia you were talking about?" Obviously she had completely ignored the whole gay factor, "Unless…Oh. My. God. Is Livie into girls?!" A look of betrayal crosses the brunette's face, "I can't believe it, we've been neighbours and best friends for …for like ever!"

"No, no, no! Calm down Maria. Olivia isn't gay. I like someone else." Her face turned a shade darker as she turned away.

"Oh. Hmm…that sucks, I mean about how you don't like her. I've been-, hold on! Then why did you agree to take Livie out for dinner?!" The girl's eyes become brimmed with anger, "Oh Sebastian Hastings, you better not be cheating on my girl!"

More out of fear than honesty, she quickly reasoned, "Uhh…it's just a platonic dinner between two good friends!"

"Well that's not what she thinks," her eyes still dark with distaste.

Burying her face deep into her knees Viola murmured, "It's sort of a trade-off-"

"I know THAT!" Maria cried as she stared at Sebastian as if he was a clueless moron. Rolling her eyes she grumbled, "Who do you think I am, not her best-friend? Jeeze." Noticing the soccer player's glum expression her newfound dislike for him melts away a little in pity. "Oh Sebastian, I'm sorry. It's just that Olivia already had one cheating bastard in her life, she really doesn't deserve another one."

Nodding in understanding, she spoke with empathy, "Oh I know. I-uh, I mean my little sister had one of those guys in her life, except he didn't cheat he was just an asshole. The last thing I want to do is become like my sister's ex. Beside I don't want to hurt Olivia she's my friend too. It's just that, she not my ty-"

"Type."

"Yeah."

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment. A long moment. Maria was contemplating with her opinion on Sebastian while Viola was wondering about Duke and Olivia. Finally Maria whispered, "Olivia doesn't need another friend, and you, you need to give this girl a chance. Sometimes, you've just got to expect the unexpected." Brushing the dirt off her skirt Maria got up and began to walk away.

"I don't think me and Olivia is going to work out!" Viola called out after her.

"Don't think love doesn't make logical sense." And just like that, she left.

_... _

"Dude, thank God it's Friday!" Toby exclaimed as he lay on the ground trying to catch his breath. "If I have to run another lap I'm going to need a wheelchair!"

"Tell me about it. If I have to listen to Dinklage's shouting one more time, I'm going to be deaf!" Andrew whined as he rubbed his sore ears, Coach had been on his case about slacking off and gaining weight over the summer.

"Oh is that so, Mr. Cote?" Speaking of the Devil, Dinklage was looming over the players wearing his usual frown. "If my coaching is too loud for you, then maybe you should find another team?" Somehow, the man was just as intimidating if not more when he was whispering. At least if he was yelling, you could tell he was pissed off, now it was just lethal. "I heard from Ms. Patterson that the girl's team was looking for a new left-wing. Care to help them out?"

Andrew looked petrified, afraid of saying something wrong, he remained mute. Which only fuelled the man's hunger for lecture, "I'll call Ms. Patterson up right a way? I'm sure she'll be happy about the extra help." Without another word, the Coach stalked off into his office.

"Kill me, now!"

Viola patted his back in pity, "Hey bro, at least ya'll be close to the ladies." This only made Andrew groan in frustration.

"Courtney's going to see me playing on the girl's team, and then she'll never want to go out with!" Courtney was the captain of the Cheerleading squad, rather stuck-up but definitely easy on the eyes.

Sticking out her tongue in disgust, she grumbled "Man, girls like that don't even deserve to be asked out." Andrew gave her a confused look; you would have to be blind to be able to resist Courtney's god-given beauty. "I mean, uhh…why ask when she could. By the time I'm done training you, she'll be practically begging to go out with you!"

Starting to regain some colour to his face, Andrew smiled "Really?" If the boy had a tail, it would surely be wagging.

"Uh…yeah totally." Sometimes it just sucked to be nice. "Tell you what; if we win the game I'll get Courtney to go on a date with you." And sometimes, being popular gave you powers most men could only dream of having.

"Deal man!" Looking more determined than ever, Andrew got up and started toward the weight room.

"Man, just look at that sucker, you sure know how to cheer-up the poor fellow. I just hope Dinklage doesn't kill him before the game starts," Toby ranted with amusement.

Duke gave a brief nod before asking, "Hey Toby, mind umm…leaving us alone for a moment." The way Duke said 'us' made Viola feel oddly warm and happy. The right-winger gave them a look before abandoning them for the showers. Once it was just them on the field, he motioned for her to follow him to the bleachers. "Look uh…I talked to Olivia. She told me to pick her up at seven thirty and that she has to be back home before ten. I don't know where to take her…or even what to say to her."

How could one guy be so adorable? Resisting the urge to just reach over and pinch his cheeks, she asked, "That's good. Well, were do you want to go?"

"Huh?" Raising an eyebrow he muttered, "Umm…to a soccer game, jeeze, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you man."

Rolling her eyes in utter exhaustion, she started "Look Duke. I know you want this date to be like, perfect but it's not going to be. And the more you expect it to be, the more likely the chance it won't be. You just need to have fun, and be yourself. I promise it'll be fine." Not looking convinced Duke continued to stare at her, almost as if he was waiting for her to spontaneously combust and from her ashes would rise Mr. Hitch. "Okay, umm…depends what you are most comfortable with. If you like talking I say go to a fancy restaurant where it takes ridiculously long for the order. If you don't want to talk, go to the theatres." Duke looked even more troubled than before. Sighing, Viola finished off her speech, "Look Duke, this is your date and I can't exactly follow you guys around and fix every little problem that could possibly happen."

As soon as his lips formed that absurdly bright, goofy smile, she just knew she said something she would unfortunately regret. "You're a genius. A fucking genius man!" Not understanding the reason behind his compliments Viola dumbly nodded along. "Okay, you're right. Things are going to go wrong," she continued her half-nods wondering how he could be so sad one minute and then the next so excited. "Unless you're there!"

She could've swore, she chocked on her spite. Violently, she coughs out, "Huh?" Now she was the confused one. Frankly Viola knew or at least had a vague idea of what her friend was talking about but her logical brain told her that Duke couldn't possibly be that desperate…could he? Please tell her that he wasn't.

"You can totally spy on our date! Well at least until I don't need you anymore."

_Ignorance is a blessing._

...

How had morning practice gone from agonizingly exhausting to her agreeing to stalk Duke on his date with Olivia? If she knew how, she would build a time machine and undo it all somehow. Too bad, she didn't know what gave the doofus that idea, and even if she did, there was no way she could ever build a time machine. Which only left her one option: be a good friend and spy on Duke's date.

Tired and cranky she changed back into her clean clothes and dragged her aching feet to her room. Relieved to find that Duke was nowhere in sight, she really didn't have the patience right now to deal with him. The little jerk was probably discussing plans with Coach or weight training anyways. Collapsing onto her bed, she set her alarm to six, knowing she still had a couple of calculus questions.

_Knock, knock._

She snuggled closer to her pillow, hoping the noise would just go away. It didn't, in fact it grew louder and more impatient. Where was Duke when she needs him? After a couple more knocks, she groaned before rolling out of bed. She checked the time, to her dismay she still had thirty minutes. Grumbling curses under her breath, she answered the door. "Hello?"

"Hi, is Duke in?" The girl had bright red hair and familiar green eyes. Freckles lightly painted her pale milky skin, only making her eyes all the more attractive.

Viola blinked once, twice, three times before shaking her head no. "He's uh…out." Noticing how pathetic she sounded she asked, "And you are…?"

"Lisa Rivers. I'm a friend of Duke's." Not asking for an invitation, she brushed past Viola and settled her luggage on Viola's bed. The very bed Viola wished she were still sleeping.

Closing the door, she sarcastically murmured to herself out of Lisa's earshot "Why don't you just come right in and make yourself at home?" Now facing the girl who claimed to be a friend of Duke's, she asked "So what brings you here?"

Almost as if she were the one who had rudely barged in without asking, Lisa sharply narrowed her eyes and answered, "I'm here visiting my favourite nephew. Duh."

A fake cheery, not too welcoming smile perched itself onto Viola's lips. "Oh I see. Umm…this is the guy's dormitory. Uhh…girls aren't allowed to be here."

"I'm sure Ronald won't mind."

"Ronald?"

"Your principle." If it wasn't bad enough that the man was bold, his fist name sounded like free advertisement for McDonald. All he needed now was a middle name that began with a M. Ronald M. Gold. The Golden M and the mascot's name, a match made in hell.

"And why would Ron-, I mean principle Gold not mind?" After all, he was the one that made that rule in the first place.

"He's my Uncle." Bitchy _**AND**_ powerful, why did everything bad come from Duke?

Slightly nervous she asked, "Wouldn't you rather stay in the girl's dormitory?" She knew that if she had the choice, she would.

"My Lord, you sure ask a lot of questions for someone so small."

Small? Did that little Satan-spawn bitch just call her small? Skinny she could take, a little lanky even, but small?! Almost baring fangs and claws, she growled "I'm not small."

"Your absolutely right, your just short."

God she was so going to kill Duke. Just as soon as she was done with little Miss Principle Clown's Niece.

* * *

**Author's Rant:** Okay, this one's a bit, OOC mainly because I sort of had to force it out. And this has NOT been beta read so forgive me for any terrible mistakes.

Oh and thanks to all the reviewers! Much love to you all!


	3. Act III

Act 3: Abundance of Emotions

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**remialcsiD:** Okay since this thing is so over done and boring, I decided to spell it backwards. Now on with the sad truth, I don't own this Movie or even the Twelfth Night written by Shakespeare that this movie was based-off of. Or the actors or the characters they act as, happy now?

* * *

Before she could find something hard and heavy to bash wanna-be queen of England over the head with, Duke entered the room. Normally Duke was famous for his mistiming entries, but for once Viola was ecstatic to see him walk in. As if the gates to heaven had opened up to her, she greeted him in an overly perky voice, "Duke! So nice of you to-" Viola didn't even get to finish her phony greeting, instead the soccer player was roughly thrashed aside like yesterday's trash by none other than little miss annoying.

"Duke!" The boy said, returning a shocked but nevertheless happy 'hi', followed up by 'Lisa'. Watching the lanky girl's arms wrapped snugly around the striker's neck, Viola couldn't help but frown. "It's so good to see you again, honestly. You've grown, and gotten more handsome I see." Oddly enough, Lisa sounded very much like a relative, even if she looked around the same age.

Duke, who had proven to be completely brainless when it came to girls, seemed to be at total and complete ease. He even returned the red-head's overly touchy embrace, "I can't believe you're here! Does Gold know?"

The two talked back and forth as if they were long lost siblings who had spent a fruitless amount of years searching for one another, and were recently reacquainted. Taking a quiet step back, towards the open door, she quickly excused herself. Feeling more out of place than a vegetarian stuck in a streak-house, Viola nearly ran out the door.

Within the minutes she had known Lisa whatever Rivers, she couldn't help but feel up-tight, almost as if the red-head saw through her disguise. She laughed at the thought; her laughter died when she spotted Malcolm. The awkward boy was talking to someone, and from where she was, Malcolm's company looked like an ex-convict. Curiosity getting the best of her, Viola slowly made her way towards them, but before she could eavesdrop on their conversation, the two boys went their separate ways. Eye-balling Malcolm as he continued to stagger through the halls, Viola couldn't help but suspect that Malcolm was stirring up trouble for her. With one last glare she left for the soccer field in a hurry.

…

"Hastings." Coach called out to her with an Illyria soccer ball under his armpit and whistle at hand. "You're late. Classes end at four fifteen, it's a quarter from six now." He gave her a stern look before dismissing her, "Go to your dorm, I can't have players that are too lazy to come to games on time."

Quickly and loudly she objected, "But Coach-!"

"I cannot and will not have tardy players!" His eyes hard and penetrating into hers, he made one final motion towards the dorms, and Viola closed her mouth.

The girl took a deep breath to calm herself, and to stop the sudden violent urge to verbally assault her Coach at the top of her lungs. Not daring to say another 'but', she stood there only a foot away from her temperamental Coach and glared back with fierce determination.

Dinklage's jaw loosened and his nostrils stopped flaring, "You got one minute."

Viola beamed before explaining how she had fallen asleep due to some stress from family issues, then carried on to the surprise visit of Lisa Rivers. "So Coach, really I never meant to come late, and I promise you that I'll never come late for a game. Never." Seeing conflicting emotions in Dinklage's eyes, she pleaded, "Please Coach, soccer is my life. Just give me a shot."

"It's all set up and it's the same routine as before." He passed her the ball and blew on his whistle.

She gave a slight nod and got her game face on.

…

"Afternoon practice is cancelled so you better not be late for Sunday's practice match. Now hit the showers."

Maybe she wasn't crazy after all, maybe it was meant to be, and just maybe she would get to kick Justin, her jerk-of-an-exboyfriend's ass after all. So what if she might have to hook Andrew up with Courtney? Or that she has to spy on Duke all afternoon tomorrow? Or that she still has to take Olivia out for dinner afterwards? Right now, the world was good. It was better than good, it was perfect.

She practically danced back to her room. Once inside she held up her brand new Illyria's first string jersey to her roommate while shouting "Man, you did it!"

Duke stood up from his chair and smiled his 100-watt smile. "Dude this is awesome! And it's more like, you did it."

They shared a manly hug and a high-five before launching into a short conversation on how to beat Cornwall in their next week's game. After another round of high-fives and congratulations, Viola settled back down to reality. "Umm…so, where's your aunt?"

"Aunt?" A puzzled look overcame Duke's face for a moment before his face lit up in realization, "Oh! Lisa, right? Dude, she's not really my aunt. We just grew up together and she's like a year older than me so she calls herself my Aunt." Noticing how he hadn't actually answered his friend's question, he carried on "She's gone to talk to Gold."

"Please tell me Gold isn't really her Uncle, and that it's some strange nickname she uses for him." Viola prayed to God that that was the case. At least then she would be able to grow a backbone around Lisa and not be scared of getting expelled. Or worse, getting caught.

"Gold really is her Uncle, why is that a problem?" He cocked an eyebrow as he watched the hopeful gleam in her eyes fade.

Forcing a grin Viola rambled, "Problem? I never said it was a problem…I just, uh; don't see the resemblance is all."

Duke shrugged at her momentarily awkwardness and asked, "Okay. So about tomorrow… You got a ride, right?"

"Tomorrow?" Her expression turns suddenly grim, "Actually, 'fraid not." A fake smile of apology crawled up her face as she continued, "I guess I can't follow you guys around anymore. What a shame. I'm sure you'll do fine without me anyways." Before she could make a successful escape Duke stopped her by grabbing her elbow. The little touch made her stomach drop, making her all the more nervous and on edge.

"NO!" He clears his throat and shuffles his feet, trying to recover from his rather desperate outburst, "I mean..." A soft sigh tumbles out of his chapped lips, "I need you man, you got to be there." His eyebrows scrunch up together, indicating that he's thinking, and hard. "Look, I'll get you a ride."

Now one of Viola's eyebrows raise in confusion, "Um…no offense or anything but I don't think all of us are going to fit on your motorcycle. Not to mention Olivia would probably find it extremely weird-."

He cuts her off with a wave of his hand, "No, no. I'm not going to drive you; I'm going to hook you up with someone who can." She nodded once, still a bit unsure about everything. "Besides, I know the perfect person to take you." Nobody can say she doesn't trust Duke, cause God knows she does, probably more than she really should. Then again, he had gotten her on the team as a starter. He ruffles her wig with a fair amount of fondness before concluding, "Don't worry man, everything will be good." Viola sure hoped that everything would turn out good, she really did.

Just like the night before, Viola sneaked out of their dorm with a soccer ball at hand.

The smell of freshly trimmed grass filled her nostrils and the soft wind that the open field offered slowly calmed her. Smiling, she dropped the soccer ball and started to bounce it on her right knee, a constant tap of rubber meeting flesh broke the silence. With her eyes still fixated on the moving ball she called out, "We've got to stop meeting like this."

"Ditto. So, I'm guessing it's safe to say you aren't feeling too well?" She tosses Viola her water bottle once the soccer player comes to a temporary rest. "You want to talk about it?"

Viola thanks Maria after a short drink. "I guess I'm a little home-sick." Then she smiles, "I made first string though."

Maria mimics her happy gestures, "That's great! You really do deserve it; I mean I've seen you on this field far too many times."

"I guess. But, soccer is the only reason why I came here, y'know?" Her lips form a half-hearted smile while she goes back to her warm-ups.

There's hesitation in Maria's voice and even a glint of worry in her eyes when she dares to ask, "Is soccer still the only reason?" From the corner of her eyes, she sees the soccer player gulp in ill ease. "You get back to me on that, I've got to head back now." She lifts up her left hand, showing Viola the tub of icecream, "I don't want this to melt." They exchange goodnights before Viola decides not even soccer could save her now.

…

The next time she opens her eyes, she spots Duke wearing a clean, nice looking shirt, his brown hair spiked up with gel, and his body faintly smelling like cologne, and not of the cheap kind either. When he realizes that his roommate is awake and clearly confused his face lights up, "Hey buddy. It's a wonderful morning and it's all thanks to you! I still can't believe it, I, me, Duke, is going on a date with the school's hottest chick. This is officially the best day of my life!"

While Duke was drunk off of his one-man glee, Viola squints her eyes at the stray lights that streamed through the window. Today, the sun was far too bright and cheery, and if destroying the sun wouldn't create a disastrous chain of reactions, she wouldn't think twice before obliterating it from existence. She lazily slapped Duke's overly eager hands of celebration, and rolled onto her stomach before burying her face deep into her pillow.

"Don't forget to be ready by seven thirty! I'll cya man!" And with that, Duke was gone.

Sluggishly, Viola got up to answer her cell after the third time it rang. "Hmm…?"

"Vi! G'moring to you too. So how's it going?" Sounds of train whistles and snip-bits of random muffles of words filled the background.

Drawing her phone closer she smiled, raising her face out of her pillows, "Sebastian! Hey, how've you been? And what's London like?"

"It's good. Actually, it's amazing. We scored extra gigs, and I think someone's interested in recording us!" His voice was dulled by the loud noise of London, but Viola managed to catch the jist.

Resisting the urge to just spill her gut and beg for him to come back home, she lied, "That's great, really. It's going pretty good here too, I've got your back and all."

"Sweet! Cause…uhh…Vi?" The only time Sebastian ever rambled or stall was when he needed a favour, usually something big.

Gritting her teeth she asked, "Yeah? What's up?"

"I might be well, staying a little longer." Before his sister could go buy the earliest ticket to London and beat the living crap out of him, he quickly reasoned, "But! Just for a little while, like really, really little, like tiny bit." Not receiving threats or swears he asked, "So…I was wondering if you could, jeeze I dunno, do whatever it is that you're already doing for just two more days?"

Viola chanted in her head to listen and not hang up on her brother, even if this said brother was a selfish little twit. "…Fine, but no more than 48 hours, you got it Sebastian?!"

"I love you, later sis!" Hearing the gratitude in his voice, Viola sighed and closed her phone.

"I wish I was an only child."

…

"Hey Paul," She greeted from the entrance door of the fashionable store.

The hair dresser paused and stilled. Dropping his scissors he turned around carefully, almost as if he couldn't believe his ears. Like a child going to the amusement park for the very first time, his whole face lit up, "Vi!" Once he had his arms around her slim figure he asked, "Aren't you suppose to be, jeeze I dunno, pretending to be your super popular brother?"

Smiling from cheek-to-cheek, she whispered, "I made it Paul. I'm on the soccer team." The blonde stared at her for a short moment before hugging her so tight her spine felt like it was breaking. "Air…need…AIR!"

He drew back a notch but still had his arms around her, "This is way too awesome, and we totally need to celebrate! Have you told Kia and Yvonne yet?" Noticing the slightly worried look on his friend's face he stated, "You know they hate being kept out of the loop."

She nodded against his chest, "I know, I'm just a little stressed. I mean, did you know Sebastian took honour classes?! I mean Sebastian, my brother, my very slacking twin!"

Paul smiled down at her, "Go call them now."

The girl gave a weak pout before pulling away from him and phoning her friends.

…

"Vi, we are totally going to catch this on tape, you know that right?" Kia excitedly stated.

"Yeah, and we are so going to see Justin cry when he loses," Yvonne added with a hint of smugness.

Viola smiled fondly. She really did miss her two best friends. Sure, Toby and Andrew were cool and all, but they just weren't Kia and Yvonne. "Thanks guys, I wish I could hug you two right now."

"Aww," the two girls cooed at the brunette, then replied "You will hug us, soon. We're so going to hold you up on that promise."

Before she could say something witty back, her phone vibrated, alerting her of a text message. "Umm, hey, I've got to get back to my dorm. Talk to you guys later?"

"Sure Vi, love ya, bye!"

After hanging up Viola opened the message, and skimming it, her face paled. "Oh crap!"

Paul finished his customer's trimming before hollering, "What's up with the face, Vi?"

Frantically she asked, "Paul what time is it?"

Slightly bewildered by his friend's odd question he checked the clock, "Umm…seven fifteen, why?"

"Oh shit, shit, shit! I am so screwed!" Ignoring the looks she was receiving, she continued to rave on like a crazy person before turning to Paul, "Can you drive me to Illyria in fifteen minutes?!"

"Vi! Are you nuts, that's half-way across town!" His words only made Viola pace all the more faster. Grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes he said, "But I sure as hell can try." A tiny smirk tugged at his lips upon Viola's happy squeal.

"Oh, thank you Paul!" Maybe she had spoken too soon. Once her butt hit the passenger's seat Paul pressed against the gas pedal. She had definitely spoken too soon.

…

She nearly kissed the ground once Paul parked, "Oh thank god I'm alive!" Rolling on the school's lawn, she continued to thank the lords, that is, until she heard someone behind her.

Paul stopped glaring at Viola for being a drama queen and turned his attention to the newcomer, "And you are?"

"Lisa Rivers, oh, and Sebastian's ride."

Doomed, she was doomed, and that was all Viola could think as she slowly picked herself up off the ground.

* * *

**Author's Rant:** Yes, I know it's rushed and it's probably really boring and what not but it was the best I could do. As for my excuse, umm, I don't really have one other than that I'm super lazy and sorry.  
Anyways, I would just like to dedicate this chapter to my new beta-reader, **LovingSeleneTheVamp**. Without her I probably would have never written this. And thanks to all of you who have reviewed, that also helped me continue on with this story. Though, honestly? I was a bit surprised at just how many people enjoyed this story. Well, I hope you guys like this chapter too. Oh, and thanks to **teriyakiskater** and **S.L.U.M. It** for great ideas and suggestions.


	4. Act IV

Act 4: Saving Duke

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**remialcsiD:** Okay since this thing is so over done and boring, I decided to spell it backwards. Now on with the sad truth, I don't own this Movie or even the Twelfth Night written by Shakespeare that this movie was based-off of. Or the actors or the characters they act as, happy now?

* * *

It's weird, it's awkward, and most of all its boring. For the fourth time since the minute hand had touched 8, he checked his watch again. Much like his date he couldn't help but sigh. Where the hell was his wing-man? "So...do you like cheese?" He looked away in embarrassment once he caught the look of utter confusion and the slight vexed expression off of Olivia's face. This was totally not how he imagined his first date with the most popular girl in school to be like, if anything, he was stressed over how sweaty he was getting.

"So how's Sebastian?" She asked not-so clandestinely. The blonde was clearly more interested in his roommate than himself. However, Duke was just relieved to have a common ground to speak of.

Smiling fondly, he replied, "He made first-string today." Oddly enough, Duke looked proud enough for the both of them.

"Seriously!?" She questioned in a loud-whisper. It hurt her that Sebastian had yet to inform her of such important news; at the least she had figured the two of them to be friends. Bummed out at being left out in the dark, she started poking at her food blandly.

Oblivious to the cold shift of mood, he continued on, enthused. "Yeah, I mean he's been great. I would hardly recognize him on the field if I were to compare his game now to before." Grinning he joked, "Gods, he was terrible in the beginning so that's not saying much. You should've seen him in tryouts. Look like a rat, drenched in all that sweat. Funny thing was he couldn't even do a hundred sit-ups!"

Olivia watched Duke in slight awe; the boy in front of her right now was completely different from the boy she saw at school. He sounded so much more real, like he actually has a three-digit IQ. It almost made her re-consider him for her possible boyfriends list, almost. "I remember that! I had bumped into him in front of Gold's office. I was wondering why he was so sweaty. I should've known it was from soccer."

In midst of happiness, he paused. "You met him in the hall?" He scrunched up his face in deep thought, "...Oh, I think I know what you're talking about. He might've mentioned something about you at lunch that day." He laughed as he recalled his first impression of Sebastian, "You must've thought he was a complete dork, right?"

Almost immediately Olivia frowned. "And why would I think that?"

His laughter died in the quick span of mere seconds, "Uh...I dunno? I mean he was, you know, like...uh...sweaty?" The striker cursed himself for belittling his new teammate in the first place. This truly must have been the work of Karma at her prime.

Now back to his usual, blundering-self-Duke, Olivia rolled her eyes, exasperated.

--

The afternoon sun shone at her bouncy curls of red as it began to set into the horizon. Suited up in a tight, low-cut black dress, Lisa Rivers looked hot. "Please tell me you aren't going dressed like that." And just like that, Viola quickly recalled how much and exactly why she hated this brat so much in the first place. "Whatever, we're late as it is. Just try fixing your hair and zip up your sweater."

Through clenched teeth, Viola obediently followed her orders, "Better?" She sarcastically spat.

"We'll just have to buy something really expensive to compensate for your lack of proper dress ware," she stated simply as she stared at the cross-dresser. "Either case lets go."

The night hadn't even started and Viola already wanted out.

The brunette forced on a smile before over perkily chipping, "Great, can't wait." Behind them, Paul stood with his forefinger resting against his chin; finally he passed his home-girl a sympathetic smile. Hot or not, a bitch was a bitch and he could tell from just one look that this Lisa chick had definitely eaten her Bitchy-O's this morning.

Quietly he cheered, "Go get 'em boy!"

--

"So..." she began but never finished, instead she let her sentence hang in the air just as it stayed. Personally she was in no mood to deal with this feisty young red-head, she would have much rather stayed in her doom sleeping. Heck, she would rather be doing _anything_ except this.

"Look, you've got something to say, you might as well say it," she scolded impatiently as she continued to keep her eyes on the road.

With the faint sounds of the air-conditioner and radio trash blowing through the edgy silence, Viola finally broke. "Did I do something? Was it something I said? Or do I just smell bad?" She laughed; the little prick actually had the nerves to laugh, astounded and tittering towards being snubbed Viola huffed. "You know what? Screw it."

"What now I'm an 'it'?" Lisa managed to spit out through laughing lips.

"What? No! I just meant, forget the question, the question!" The soccer player tried to explain as she animatedly gestured for peace.

"I'm just kidding, sheesh." When did the Devil get a sense of humour? "Besides, what makes you think it was something you did?" There she went again, talking all cryptic-like, as if English wasn't hard enough without all the double-meanings and whatnot.

"Gee, I don't no. Maybe because you keep doing _that_!" The younger twin exclaimed, pointing a judging finger.

"...You're so weird." And with that their conversation ended. Oh yeah, Viola _loves_ spending quality time with Lisa, it's a ball!

--

"Names and reservations?" He was a rather lanky tall thing, all whispery-white and hardly any muscles to speak of; in fact he looked exactly like the ones in Disney movies, before Disney went all crap with sequels and prequels of course. It was quite strange if not amusing.

"Lisa and it should be for 7: 30," her 'supposed' chaperon answered smoothly.

The waiter passed Viola a long look; she swore heard a click of disapproval from the man's mouth. "Right this way, your table is eight, non-smoker." As the man lead them to their table, Viola kept a wide-eye open for Duke and Olivia. She missed them already.

"Thank you," Lisa politely offered once they were seated. Viola merely picked at her menu in slight anxiety. "What's wrong with you now?" She questioned dryly after the waiter departed.

"Umm...didn't your 'nephew'," Viola couldn't stop herself from making a funny face and air quoting the fake blood relation. She continued after the short pause, "Give you the deeds on the sitch?" The girl merely cocked an eyebrow. "Me, help your boy get with girl other there, ring any bells?"

"Were you dropped when you were a kid?" Must resist stabbing, no don't grab the butter knife. Bad girl, bad! "But yes, Duke did mention something about you helping him." The girl was obviously having a difficult time to as how Viola, of all people, could help Duke. The lanky short thing hardly looked like he could help himself.

Placing her menu upward like a wall, she slowly brought out her cellphone and sent a quick text, asking for an up-date on how the date was so far.

--

He was this close to just calling it in, they were obviously going nowhere, sitting here like two awkward statues from different time-periods. And then, Sebastian's text arrived. "Thank God," he murmured under his breath. Olivia looked up from her nails in slight alarm.

"Is something the matter? Is it ten?" A flicker of longing filled the blonde's eyes; luckily it went by unnoticed by her date as he continued to text Sebastian back.

"It's only eight thirty, no worries. You're good." Olivia Lennox was far from good and if this date didn't start picking up some speed, Duke Orsino was not going to be 'good' for much longer either. She would swear on it. Finally he looked up and bursting with new confidence he asked, "So how is cross-country going?"

She was so caught-off guard by the thoughtful question, she actually stuttered. Olivia Lennox, a class-one debutante, stuttering?! Stuttering was unspoken of! "Uh...F-fine." She blinked, three times, slowly. Recovering she continued, "Actually we are lacking a little for the season, but we've still got a good week before our first relay."

"Oh cool, maybe I should come and watch sometime," he suggested as a warm smile decorated his lips. Clearly satisfied by his stunning performance.

"Yeah, you should, we could always use more fans," she agreed, glad to have finally gotten over their awkward silence. "So what about you how's soccer?"

Duke smiled, this was good.

In fact it was perfect for a good hour, and then things started to get a little weird. Blinded by utter trust he shrugged before asking, "I like your lip-gloss, too bad it's not your ...color?" Duke silently read it over again before wanting to slam his head against the table. If Olivia's fuming expression was anything to go by, he was in a heap of trouble.

"Excuse me?"

"Uh..." Almost immediately afterwards another text came, desperate he hastily repeated again, "Yeah excuse you. It should be a crime to come out looking like that."

"WHAT?!"

"I need to go use the washroom, sorry" he wheezed out in one short breathe before practically running to Sebastian's table. If looks could kill, Sebastian really should've prepared for his funeral because Duke looked just about ready to murder somebody.

It didn't take the athletic long to find Lisa and Sebastian, in fact Sebastian stood out like a sore thumb dressed in his comfort-ware among the seas of dress-shirts and suits. "You," he growled jabbing his finger at him, "Come with me, now!"

"Hey! Hey! That hurts," Viola whined as Duke proceeded to drag her by her shirt collar in the direction of the men's room, oh boy.

As soon as they got in Duke had her pressed flatly against the wall, looking like he could really hurt her, he snarled "**What the hell** was that?!"

"What was what?" She asked confused and scared out of her wits. Even as she struggled against him, he topped her by at least a good fifty pounds and several feet so it was rather pointless.

"Don't play stupid with me, you sent those joke-texts!"

She stopped trying to wrestle out of her roommate's grip for a minute, "What? I never sent you 'joke-texts'. The last thing I texted you were to talk about your dog." Clearly feeling played, she calmly asked, "Can you show me the texts?"

Agitated but willing to get to the bottom of this, he complied.

Message Received:

Message from: Sebastian Hastings (555 555-1234)

Message To: Duke Orsino

_Saturday, 8:30 p.m_

I lke ur lip-gloss, 2 bad its not ur color.

Slowly Viola stated, "That's not my number Duke..."

In sync the two stated, knowing only one person sleazy enough and so profusely interested in Olivia to play such a dirty trick, "Malcolm."

* * *

**Author's Rant**: Okay you guys, sorry for the really –like really, late up-date. I honestly wasn't sure if I wanted to continue this fic but something just inspired me to write this up. Sorry if it's rushed or something. Hope you enjoy! Oh and thanks for the amazing feedbacks, you guys are seriously the best. Also this has not be beta-ed so excuse any glaring errors.


	5. Act VI

**Act 5: Oooh-Livia!**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own this Movie or even the Twelfth Night written by Shakespeare that this movie was based-off of. Or the actors or the characters they act as, happy now? Though I try to incorporate as much similarities between my fanfic and the Twelfth Night and the movie.

* * *

Malcolm was officially the bane of her existence, and his stupid spider could go burn in hell with him for all she cared. Tonight had been a disaster and Olivia wasn't even at the table when they returned, instead Lisa was sitting in the vacated seat looking confused with a mixture of anger and worry. Her anger solely centered on Viola as she took notice of the third degree death glare. Making best of the situation, they gather on the table for two and finished the basket of garlic bread before heading out themselves. The only thing that managed to go according to plan was Olivia getting back on curfew and her staying oblivious to her assistance to their date.

"So let me get this straight. This Milo creep screwed you guys over and now this Olive chick is not interested?"

Duke didn't even bother correcting Lisa and merely continued to drive with a permanent frown paved on his lips, trying to ignore the obvious agitation he felt towards the conversation.

Viola, despite herself put her two cents in, "Malcolm's kinda obsessed with Olivia." She made sure to emphasize the names hoping Lisa would catch on. "Besides this is a bit sleazy even for Malcolm, not to mention sneaky." her thoughts lingered back earlier in the week when she had spotted the dweeb with a very ex-convict-ish looking guy. Against reason she decided not to share her suspicions, afraid to dampen the already crappy night.

"I'm gonna tell Gold, I'm sure he'll expel Mason... Or something."

Duke squared his jaw, before grumbling out of frustration "okay, 'cause we are still five and that kind of tattle-telling is so mature."

A hurt look crossed Lisa's face before she snapped back, "I was only trying to help Duke." At her admission his face softened to an apologetic stare.

With new determination Viola turned to her team's captain and promised, "We will get that weasel, no worries man, he's totally going down."

Duke managed a small smile at the thought of revenge.

**/.../**

Memories of last night's disaster slowly flooded back to Viola as sunlight peeking through her binds awoke her. With a deep sigh she stayed still and stared up at the ceiling. This wasn't her plan, she never thought that pretending to be Sebastian could be so hard, then again if she was really honest about it, she never really though this plan out very well. Even with the supportive texts that Kia and Yvonne sneaked every few hours, she felt so homesick. She missed being able to wear clothes that fit her, she absolutely hated having to wrap her chest with bindings and most of all she was just tired, tired of being Sebastian.

_"I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world-"_ Viola scrambled out of bed at the sound of her not-so Sebastian-like ring tone. "Hello?" She answered while sneaking a look over to Duke's bed, once realizing the big oaf was still snoring away she let out a big breath of relief.

"Vi? Baby?" It only took all of 2.5 seconds to realize it was her stupid, blonde ex calling.

Rolling her eyes out of sheer annoyance, she growled "Oh if it isn't golden boy Justin."

"Oh, it is you…do you have a cold or something? Cause you sound a little-"

Sharply Viola interrupted, "I don't care how I sound to the likes of you so if you would please, stop calling, that would be awesome. And I know that you are blonde but seriously? Get a clue, we. Are. OVER!" Without another word she hung up and tossed the phone against the wall.

Suddenly she felt overly ecstatic to be her dumb old brother, as long as she was first-string and got to play against Cornwall, it was worth every single 5'o clock showers, and every minute of the pain she felt from her bindings. With fire burning in her eyes she grabbed her ratty soccer ball and headed out to the field.

Viola might not know a lot about helping Duke with his fruitless attempts to get with Olivia, or what to do about Malcolm or how to survive another day with Lisa Rivers, she was certain about one thing; Justin was going down.

**/.../**

"Hey," before she could pocket another ball into the right corner of the net she turned around and found none other than Olivia Lennox staring intently at her.

"Olivia, hey, what's up?" Taking in the sweatpants and the tank top, Viola had a pretty good idea what her friend was up to this morning.

"Just practicing for my meet tomorrow," she answered half-heartedly, this was hardly what she wanted to talk about. Likely her favourite brunette brought it up before she lost her will to confront him of what she saw yesterday night.

Relaxing a bit Viola asked, "So how did your date with Duke go? Heard he took you out to the town's best Italian restaurant."

"Yeah…about that, was it just me or did I see you there with a red-head?" Olivia quickly asked while averting her eyes, she knew this was too forward of her. And her jealousy seeped out despite her calm exterior, causing her cheeks to blush in slight embarrassment, after all it wasn't like Sebastian was her boyfriend or anything…yet.

Her eyes bugged out as she finally understood what Olivia was talking about. Freaked out at the possibility of the blonde knowing why she was there yesterday she blurted mindlessly "It's not what you think!"

Olivia cocked an eyebrow, "Oh? So that wasn't you on a date with some hot girl?" Silently she kept repeating in her head, _'he's not your boyfriend. He's not your boyfriend. He is not your boyfriend…so stop acting like you caught him cheating on you!' _Unfortunately her mouth didn't get the memo and continued on heatedly, "And how come you didn't tell me you got on first-strings?" Genuine hurt crossed her face as she waited for Sebastian's reasons. She knew this was so unlike her, after all a proper lady never confronts a man of her interest so rudely, and she was a proper lady if nothing else.

"Um…uh," Viola totally didn't know what to say so she stood there dumbstruck, feeling guilty. Even though she had no reason to justify Olivia's accusations, she felt like she really let her down. The one girl that she felt like could've been one of her bestfriends had they met under different circumstances. "Look Liv, I wasn't on a date with her, the truth is she's Duke's close friend and he was super nervous about the date so we kinda just went to support him, y'know?" Hesitantly, she offered "Duke's crazy about you, and I know you think of him as just some stupid meat-head that kicks around a soccer ball all day, but he's not. He's a really sweet, sensitive guy that just wants you to like him. It's hard to believe, but he's actually scared of spiders."

As much as she wanted to return Duke's feelings, all she could think about was how nice of a guy Sebastian was. After all, most guys would be degrading their friends and try to make themselves look better, but not Sebastian. And it only made her want him more. Softly; apologetically, "I know…but I can't like Duke that way, at least not when I already like someone else. And I'm sorry I was so pushy, I probably sounded like a crazy ex-girlfriend," they both smiled at the small jib against Monique. "But I really care about you Sebastian and I just figured you would tell me things like making first-string."

Viola couldn't help but feel for Duke, after all it sucked that Olivia had no interest in him. As much as she wanted to squeeze the boy's head for his stupid ideas lately, deep down she knew what an awesome guy he was. Still if Olivia didn't like him, then she didn't like him. A part of her was secretly relieved; Viola shrugged it off as yesterday night's mishap being the last of her involvement in Duke's love-life. Forgetting about herself and really hearing what Olivia's feelings were she offered a small smile, "Yeah…about that, I really was planning on telling you but with Duke's date with you, I guess it kinda slipped my mind."

"It's okay," in fact it was better than okay. Sure Sebastian didn't seem even the slightest bit interested in who she liked, but it was obvious that he cared about her feelings. And this was the perfect opening for her to bring up what has been on her mind all week, "Speaking of Duke's date with me, I was just wondering when we could go for that dinner you promised me." It sound a bit too available even to her own ears but at this point in time, she really didn't care.

"Oh right! Our date." Olivia's face broke out into a big smile at the word 'date'. Though Marie kept her in check with reality every time they talked about Sebastian in the safety of their dorm room, she couldn't help but get her hopes up. "Well I have a practice game tonight at 6:30 and you have your meet on Monday, so how about Tuesday?"

If Sebastian was any more perfect, Olivia would've thought he was just a figment of her imagination, after all he was the first and only guy to be considerate of her passion for cross-country and not convince her to just 'forget about it baby' like her exes. "Tuesday, huh?" Back to her playful, confident self, Olivia teased "Well I'm quite busy and might have to check my schedule but since you asked so nicely I think I could fit you in."

"Aw, that's so nice of you Ms. Lennox to think of the little people, I'm truly honoured. So I'll pick you up around 6?" Viola bantered back, it felt so nice to be able to joke around with another girl again, god she missed her friends from Cornwall.

"6 sounds perfect, see you then." Before she left Sebastian to finish her laps, she paused and added, "And good luck tonight Sebastian, I'm sure you will rock it."

For some odd reason, Viola felt better than ever. And after watching Olivia disappear into the track lanes, she shot one right into the right corner of the net.

**/.../**

"Okay boys, this is the first time for you to really show me what you've got. How you perform today will determine who I play on Wednesday's game against Middleton, so go out there and play better than your best!" Coach Dinklage patted each of the player's shoulders as they headed out of the dressing room and out onto the field.

**T.B.C**

* * *

**Author's note**: Okay I kinda have an idea to as where I want this to go now. And I'm super, like extremely sorry for not updating for so long, especially with all you guys' great feedback. I felt that if I wrote this during my writer's block phase it just wouldn't be any good and you guys only deserve the best! So hope this makes up for it and enjoy!


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